The NFL Closing in on $3.2 Billion TV Extension With the Big Three Networks

The NFL Closing in on $3.2 Billion TV Extension With the Big Three Networks

The NFL is set to secure an eight-year extension with Fox, NBC and CBS that will be worth roughly $3.2 billion annually from all three networks.

Published December 7, 2011

The NFL is in high demand, and that means the networks are willing to pay whatever the asking price is to continue airing the league’s football games.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the NFL is set to secure an eight-year extension with Fox, NBC and CBS that will be worth roughly $3.2 billion annually from all three networks. That’s a 60 percent increase from what the three networks combined pay under the last contract.

Apparently none of the networks balked at the new asking price.

"No one on the broadcast end wants to be without the NFL," said Lee Berke, owner and sports media analyst at LHB Sports, Entertainment & Media, Inc. "They go without it at their own peril, and all of that gets factored in when deciding to bid so high."

When you add in the increased fees the NFL has set for ESPN and Direct TV, the league will now rake in a total of $6 billion a year from television money alone. All of the extensions will run through 2021. ESPN will pay nearly $2 billion annually to broadcast the “Monday Night Football” programming while Direct TV pays about $1 billion each year to broadcast the “NFL Ticket,” according to the report.

The Journal said television executives and the NFL have been working out the details for months and are in the finalizing stages. The plan is to have the agreement in place before the holidays.